Milk-can



(No Model.)

O.' E, HINMAN.

MILK GAN- Patented Jan; 2 1894.

,INVENTOB WITNESSES ATTORNEYS.

m: NAYIONAL u-mcamwuma coMPAmr.

vuanmerou. a, c.

CHARLES E. I-IINMAN, OF OXFORD, NEBRASKA.

MILK-CAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 512,109, dated January 2, 1894.

Application filed May 18,1893.

T0 at whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES E. HINMAN, of Oxford, in the county of Furnas and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and Improved Milk-Oan, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in that class of milk cans illustrated in Letters Patent of the United States, No. 407,207, dated July 16, 1889, in which a tapering plug is used and is forced into the can so as to compress the globules of the milk and hold them sus pended and packed in such a way as to prevent agitation when the can is shipped or handled.

The object of my present improvement is to provide a plug which extends downward through the can, to provide means for catching the overflow when the plug is inserted, to provide a hollow central plug of such a capacity that ice may be packed within it so as to keep the milk cool, and also to provide a convenient means of firmly fastening the plug, sealing the can, and bracing the same so that its bottom will not bulge.

To these ends my invention consists of an improved milk can, the construction of which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a central vertical section on the line 11 in Fig. 2, of the can embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the can; and Fig. 3 is a broken detail View, partly in section, showing a modified form of part of the improvement.

The can 10 is of substantially the usual shape having a contracted top, a reduced neck 11 and an outwardly flaring top flange 12, which at a point where it joins the neck is formed into a flat seat 13 against which fits a rubber gasket 14, and this is adapted to be bound between the seat and the adjacent portion of the flaring top flange 15 of the hollow plug 16. The plug 16 tapers toward its lower end which is closed, and the flange 15 is of the same shape as the flange 12 within which it fits snugly. The plug 16 is sufficiently large to receive a quantity of ice which may be held within it and which thus keeps Serial No.4'74fi583. (N0 model.)

the milk in the can cool. The flange 15 is provided on opposite sides with slots 17 so that when the plugisinserted, the milk which rises up in the flange 12 may flow through the slots and be saved in the plug, from which it may be conveniently poured. The flange 15 has also 011 opposite sides and on its upper edge projecting lugs 18, which are adapted to be engaged by a wrench or other suitable article and which thus enables the plug to be easily screwed home. The plug 16 has a cylindrical extension or tube 19 at its lower end which is internally sored threaded, and is provided in the sides with openings 20 to permit the escape of air when the plug is screwed down, and the tube 19 has also, at its lower end, a flaring flange 21 which serves to center the tube on the fastening screw 22, but the flange 21 may be dispensed with if desired without affecting the principle of the invention. The screw 22 projects upward through the bottom of the can and the screw has a base flange 23 which fits against the can bottom. The plug is applied after the can is filled with milk, and it is centered upon the screw 22 and turned firmly down until the gasket 14 is compressed and an airtight seal is effected. The downward movement of the plug compresses the milk in the can and it also draws upward on the screw 22 and flange 23 so as to prevent the can bottom from bulging, and thus the can is made very strong and the milk is compressed so that the can may be carried about in any usual way without agitating the milk.

The modified form of screw, designated as 24, in Fig. 3, has a base flange 23 like that of the screw 22, but its upper end only is threaded, the remainder of its body being smooth, except that at the base of the threaded portion an annular convex enlargement 24 is formed, adapted to shut with the lower end of the plug 16 or the flange 21 thereon.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination, with the can, of a tapering plug adapted to enter the can and to hold a quantity of ice, and a fastening device to secure the plug bottom to the can bottom, substantially as described.

2. As an improved article of manufacture,

a milk can having a flaring top, a hollow tapering plug adapted to enter the can and having a flaring top to fit the top of the can, overflow slots in the top of the plug, and a fastening device to secure the plug bottom to the can bottom, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the can, of the tapering plug adapted to enter the can and seal its top, a threaded tube on the lower end of the plug, and a screw held in the can bottom and adapted to fit the tube, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the can, having bottom and adapted to enter the tube, sub- 20 stantially as described.

0. E. HINMAN.

Witnesses:

S. T. MORGAN, B. F. ALoo'rT. 

